On Thursday, Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall filed a letter, on behalf of 16 state attorneys general, to U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA). The letter, which pertains to Biden administration policy on COVID-19, is both important on its own merits, insofar as what it urges the new Congress to do, and more broadly significant insofar as the spotlight it helpfully shines on the American ruling class’s insatiable desire to govern via perpetual crisis.
The letter, which cleverly cites President Joe Biden‘s own September 2022 admission that “the pandemic is over,” decries the administration’s continued reliance on “emergency” powers to implement various COVID-related policies—especially those pertaining to the “emergency-use authorizations” that have enabled the government to develop, mass-produce, and mass-distribute the COVID vaccines despite the fact they have still not been approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
“Things have changed,” the attorneys general argue, since “emergency authorization was granted two years ago to get the first vaccines distributed.” They continue: “In short, things have changed. The American people, in their characteristic spirit of resilience, have learned to live with COVID-19. Even President Biden noted that people generally are no longer wearing masks, and mandates to do so have disappeared from all but the most sensitive areas. Schools, shops, restaurants, and businesses are open. City streets are bustling. The idea that we are still in the midst of a medical emergency flies in the face of the facts on the ground. Yet, [Health and Human Services (HHS)] and FDA continue to perpetrate the myth that an emergency exists to aggrandize their power at the expense of people’s freedom.”
The letter ultimately concludes: “We encourage the new Congress to move quickly to limit HHS’ and FDA’s ability to unilaterally declare an emergency and approve unproven drugs that could cause harm to Americans, override any remaining emergency use authorizations for COVID-19 vaccines, consider reforms to the sweeping liability shield created in 2005, and ensure that our liberties and system of government are robustly protected against any such future attempts at medical tyranny.”
By Josh Hammer
